Operations Manager

MRC Head Office Operations Manager

Salary: £36,650 per annum
Band: D
Hours: Full time
Contract Type: Open Ended
Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire - Hybrid Working Available
Closing date: 17th October 2025

About The Role

We are seeking a proactive and highly organised Operations Manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of MRC Head Office. This is a key role ensuring the smooth and efficient delivery of services, the effective use of resources, and the implementation of operational strategies. The successful candidate will play a central part in shaping processes, supporting organisational performance, and driving continuous improvement in partnership with colleagues across MRC and UKRI.

Overall Purpose

To coordinate and continuously improve operational systems, processes, and resources within MRC Head Office, enabling colleagues to deliver effectively and ensuring alignment with organisational priorities.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Coordination

• Manage daily operations to ensure efficiency, quality, and compliance with MRC/UKRI standards.
• Oversee administrative systems, workflows, and processes; identify and deliver improvements.
• Monitor operational performance metrics; produce regular insight reports.
• Mentor and support operational staff to maintain high performance and morale.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to implement operational aspects of strategic initiatives.

Head Office Support

• Maintain and update process guides and standard operating procedures across Head Office.
• Maintain guidance on budget limits, including the MRC Head Office Handy Guide to Budgets, ensuring alignment with UKRI policies.
• Support risk management activities as appropriate
• Coordination activities across Head Office as requested by the Senior Operations Manager, MRC Head Office.
• Coordinate the implementation and operation of Delegated Authority (DA) policy within Head Office, liaising with Finance and Governance Operations Teams where required.

Operational Calendar

• Develop and maintain a comprehensive MRC/UKRI operational calendar in Monday.com or equivalent system, ensuring key organisational dates (e.g., appraisals, IYA, SET, Council, risk reviews, training) are visible and tagged for relevant audiences.
• Coordinate with Governance colleagues to ensure alignment of operational and governance cycles.
• Work through colleagues across teams to ensure contributions and updates are accurate and timely. 

Capability Management

• Support the development and implementation of a capability management framework, including capturing and maintaining accurate data on staff skills, qualifications, and role requirements.
• Assist in mapping capability needs to job descriptions and identifying skills gaps.
• Provide capability-related operational support to recruitment processes, ensuring role requirements and skills data are accurate and up to date.

Enterprise Relationship Management (ERM)

• Act as operational owner for MRC’s ERM system, working to increase uptake and usage across the organisation.
• Develop and maintain processes for capturing, updating, and reporting ERM data.
• Produce regular insight reports from ERM data to inform SET discussions and support strategic decision-making.
• Liaise with system users and UKRI colleagues to ensure ERM processes align with organisational needs.

Working Relationships

Reports to: Senior Operations Manager, MRC Head Office

Interactions: The role involves developing and maintaining a broad range of working relationships within MRC and UKRI, and with external partners as required.

Travel: Travel may be required on request due to business need.

Personal Specification

Shortlisting Essential Criteria:

• Demonstrated experience in designing and managing operational systems such as calendars, workflow tools, or enterprise platforms (e.g., Monday.com, ERM, CRM).
• Proven ability to coordinate multi-team or cross-departmental activities to deadlines.
• Experience in developing and maintaining organisational process guides, SOPs, or capability frameworks.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to generate insight from operational data and present it clearly to inform decisions.
• Evidence of working effectively with senior stakeholders to align operations with organisational priorities.
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office and collaborative platforms, with the ability to quickly learn and adapt to new tools.

Interview Essential Criteria:

Interviews will focus on the competencies below and candidates will be asked to give examples of how they demonstrated these skills. 

• Demonstrated experience in designing and managing operational systems such as calendars, workflow tools, or enterprise platforms (e.g., Monday.com, ERM, CRM).
• Proven ability to coordinate multi-team or cross-departmental activities to deadlines, managing multiple tasks and priorities without loss of quality.
• Experience in developing and maintaining organisational process guides, SOPs, or capability frameworks.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to generate insight from operational data, present it clearly, and make evidence-based recommendations.
• Evidence of working effectively with senior stakeholders and colleagues at all levels, adapting style to suit the audience.
• Communicating to a range of audiences – verbally and in writing, adapting style as necessary.
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office and collaborative platforms, with the ability to quickly learn and adapt to new tools.
• Demonstrable problem solving and troubleshooting skills, using initiative and sound judgement to improve processes and resolve issues under pressure.

Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact Recruitment@ukri.org.

UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer. 

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact Recruitment@ukri.org.

UKRI - UK Research and Innovation

UKRI is an organisation that brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England and Innovate UK. Together, we build an independent organisation with a strong voice and vision ensuring the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.

Supporting some of the world’s most exciting and challenging research projects, we develop and operate some of the most remarkable scientific facilities in the world. We are pushing the frontiers of human knowledge through fundamental research and delivering benefits for UK society and the economy through world-class research, skills and business-led innovation.

More information can be found at www.ukri.org.

Choosing to come to work at UKRI means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme, excellent holiday entitlement, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme.  For more details, visit benefits of working for UKRI.

How we support EDI in the workforce

At UKRI, we believe that everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be provided with equal opportunities to thrive and succeed in an environment that enables them to do so. We also value diversity of thought and experience within inclusive groups, organisations and the wider community. For further information, please visit ‘How we support EDI in the workforce’.

Disability Confident Employer

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all applicants with a disability who opt into the disability confident scheme and meet the minimum criteria for the role. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

How To Apply

Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit a CV and covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for UKRI and the role. Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit an application without a covering letter may result in the application not being considered. Assessment will only be based upon the content of your submitted covering letter and CV and not the ‘experience’ section of the application.

UKRI seeks to ensure it creates and maintains a system of openness, fairness and inclusion – a collaborative, trusted environment, which is attractive to and accessible to everyone who is interested in developing their career with us.

The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role.  UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.